How I got Tracfone for 3.5 cents a unit

How I got Tracfone for 3.5 cents a unit
March 5 2007 at 8:24 AM Sandy/MD (Login Beachbaby06)
The Frugalista Files
From time to time we discuss the benefits of pre paid cell phones versus post paid. Tracfone usually comes up and I thought I'd share how I got units so cheaply recently.

First, I got my Tracfone in August '06 for $40. With my airtime I got for getting the phone, activating online and 2 RAF ( refer a friend ) I had service time until 1/15/07 without spending another cent. My old post paid cell phone bill was $36/month so I saved a decent amount of money during that time.

Dd wanted to know what I wanted for Christmas. I suggested the Tracfone deal that is always on their site. Buy a 60 unit card, get another one free along with a refurbished Nokia 1100 for $19.99. They were offering free shipping also. With tax this was $20.99.

Now the fun begins. I signed up my original phone for the insider news which would give me 20 free units when I added airtime next. I added one of the 60 unit cards along with a code that extended my service time for 2 more months for a total of 4 months and gave me my 80 units. I could have used a code for free units but needed service time more.

There was a way to still do RAF so I sent a referral to myself for the new phone. After I activated the new phone I got the RAF pin number. Added that for the 120 units and a code for 30 bonus units.

Total time and units added to original phone are 6 months and 230 units.

Now the new phone. I activated it online and got the 20 units and 2 months service time. When I activated it I got a special they were giving away for awhile. You get 30 units free each time you add airtime for the life of the phone and you can use codes on top of it. This would start with the second time you added airtime to the phone.

I added the RAF for 120 units and a code for 60 bonus units and extending my service time another 2 months. Signed up for insider news too. Then a code came out giving a 60 unit card an extra 60 units. I added the second 60 unit card I had and got the 60 plus the extra 60, 30 bonus for life and 20 for insider for a total of 170 units and 2 months service time. Sweet!!

Total time and units added to the second phone are 6 months and 370 units.

Combined together I have 2 phones, 600 units and 6 months service time for $21! This comes out to 3.5 cents per unit. I still cannot believe it. The savings from my post paid phone to Tracfone during the 6 months are $195.

My original goal was to just get rid of the second phone after I used up the time on it. Now I'm going to keep it. It's to good of a deal to pass up with the bonus units. Dh uses it instead of taking his work phone with him when he goes out so he's not bothered by work issues.

It took time to find the codes and decide which ones to use but this was actually fun trying to find the best deal and figure out the savings. I'm really thrilled with the results tho!

RR
(Login panda-wa)
The Frugalista Files
this may be a dumb question ...
March 21 2007, 2:17 PM

There have been some nice changes to Tracfone recently. All cards now extend your time for 90 days, up from 60 ( except the year card of course ). There is also a new 30 unit card that is $9.99 and is good for 45 days. The best news tho is you can add unlimited time now, no more limits of 180 days ( or a year with the year card ). Someone over at the Yahoo group added a bunch of cards to their phone and have time until 2012. I'd be leary of adding that much time myself!